Short Reviews

So this is kinda like a place for short posts. I’ll post little things when I don’t want to do a full review or if I say something funny to my dad or if my friends say something funny. Not all of it’s going to be hardcore.

*New stuff now to be added at the top! Newest short review is: CuntDown/Never Again Split E.P.

CutDown/Never Again Split E.P.

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2 of the best NJHC bands out there, Cutdown and Never Again put out a split E.P. on Rebirth Records. After listening to this you can’t convince me that New Jersey doesn’t produce the best mosh parts ever. I’m really excited to get my hands on my physical copy of this. I can’t pick a favorite song cause they’re all so good. It’s got really good mosh parts and the lyrics are really cool!

Re-Evaluating my list of favorite Straight Edge Hardcore songs

I my my original list over a year ago in June of 2021 and my list was #5 “Straight Edge” by Minor Threat, #4 “Drug Free Youth” by Release, #3 “Fed Up!” by Judge, #2 “Thinking Straight” by Youth Of Today, and #1 “Clear” by Floorpunch. Now writing this a year and a half later I have a broader range of hardcore songs that I like and most are about straight edge which is pretty cool. But now for the new list!

#5 “Straight Edge” or “Out Of Step” by Minor Threat both are great and some days I just can’t decide which is better so I’m gonna put them both.

#4 “Walk Tall, Walk Straight” by Crippled Youth (later Bold) A band and song that I had not yet discovered at the time of making my original list that have now become some of my favorite songs ever.

#3 “True ‘Til Death” by Chain Of Strength some say they weren’t really straight edge and they were just in it for the trend but screw that this is still gonna be on some part of my body permanently in the future.

#2 “Fed Up!” by Judge, “Thinking Straight” by Youth Of Today, “In Your Face” by SlapShot are all tied at second. There’s just too many absolutely amazing straight edge songs to list them all in a top 5.

#1 “Clear” by Floorpunch. Floorpunch is my favorite EVER hardcore band and “Clear” is the clear answer for my favorite sXe song.

Now WatchMojo style I’ll add some “Honorable Mentions” at the end in no particular order. “The Few and the Proud” by Turning Point, “More Than Fashion” by DYS, “Get It Away” by SS Decontrol, “Str8 Ahead” by Cornerstone, “Straight and Alert” by Uniform Choice, “Just Say No” by No For an Answer, “Living A Lie” by Side by Side, “Straight Edge Revenge” and “Where It Ends” by Project X, and finally “Teenager In A Box”(cover of Government Issue) by Alone In a Crowd. I hate having to classify them like this. It was sop much easier when I made the first list.

Token Entry From Beneath the Streets

When I was really young like 6 or 7 I would be in the car and my dad would play hardcore music and Token Entry was a band with a name that always caught my attention but, for what ever reason, I really did not like them. I’ve now taken back my statements from the past cause they’re another band that I now absolutely LOVE. I can listen to this record 5 or 6 times a day and not get sick. “The Edge”, “Decide”, “Psycho”, and "Actions” are my favorites. Here’s another record with amazing cover art. I could say that about basically any hardcore record but this one especially.

Combust NYHC Demo

I found out about Combust from Cash-Only records which put out the Ekulu LP Unscrew My Head. Cash-Only put out Combust’s LP Another Life. I looked at their page on Spotify and I like to listen to different bands' stuff sequentially, so naturally I listened to their Demo first which came out on Straight and Alert records. It’s really good. They’ve got an Intro which is really cool, and if you didn’t know I love a good intro and this one’s great; It goes straight into “Combust”. They finish it off with a hard cover of “Dissed & Dismissed” by NYHC legends Breakdown. The Intro (of course), “Dissed & Dismissed”, and “Another Fool” in my opinion are the best songs off of this record. The cover however is fucking sick! I’m the type of guy to buy a record for the cover to hang on my wall and this one is a 1 2 punch of a great cover and great music.

Gorilla Biscuits Demo

The songs are great but the vocals aren't it. According to Ari who I saw the 7 Seconds show with, it sounds like Civ has pneumonia. I kinda agree. It sounds like he wasn’t really trying. I like his voice on the S/T 7” and Start Today. The cover of the demo is pretty cool though. My favorite song on this is “Better Than You”.

Breakdown “Runnin’ Scared” Demo

I was really excited to listen to this because I love Breakdown and I thought my dad had the original tape so I could listen to it on my tape player but no. He just has a photocopy of the cover with live Minor Threat, Straight Ahead, and some other band that isn’t labeled on it. So I went to YouTube. I found a video with the demo and all the extra shit. It’s really good. And bitch, that’s right BITCH, “All I Ask” is my favorite track on the “Runnin’ Scared” demo but “Safe In A Crowd” or “Sick People” from the Rev comp are my favorite breakdown songs.

Metallica “St. Anger”

“Holy shit the drums on this sound worse than the Chung King,” is what I said when I heard the first track “Frantic”.

Underdog “The Vanishing Point”

I’m talking about the Underdog full length 12” not the amazing song with the same name. All the songs on this record are great (besides “Without Fear” it’s too slow for my taste.) but the guitar “sound” really messes with the quality. This record however, contains the second best Underdog song in my opinion and the best Underdog song by almost everyone else: “Back To Back”. Which sadly was never recorded correctly. The cover of this record covers up (see what I did there?) the sound of the guitar. Both demos are better.

Who was most popular on “The Way It Is” (according to Spotify)

I’ll be looking at the bands on Spotify and seeing who has the most monthly listeners.

Sick Of It All (119,276)
Gorilla Biscuits (88,615)
Youth Of Today (28,041)
WarZone (24,896)
Bold (6,341)
Breakdown (4,720)
Nausea (3,027)
Side By Side (2,587)
Supertouch (1,091)
Trip 6 (295)
Krakdown (204)

Sick Of It All albums ranked

There’s so many. God, help me. I’m also not counting live albums so no Dragon Power or Live In A Dive. Playlist I made with all the albums in order of my ranking: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3FWbFYjEqQ8iugdGRuxjhD?si=ef5435b0a7d54157

Blood, Sweat & No Tears (1989)
Sick Of It All (1987)
Scratch The Surface (1994)
Nonstop (2011)
Call To Arms (1999)
Life On The Ropes (2003)
Death To Tyrants (2006)
Built To Last (1997)
Wake The Sleeping Dragon (2018)
Based On A True Story (2010)
Last Act Of Defiance (2014)
Just Look Around (1992)
Yours Truly (2000)

Cro-Mags albums ranked

A lot but not as many as Sick Of It All. Once again no live stuff even though “Hard Times in the Age Of Quarrel'' album is awesome. But if I was then it would be right there at 3 cause it’s awesome. Playlist I made with all the albums in order of my ranking:

Age Of Quarrel (1986)
Before The Quarrel (1985)
Alpha Omega (1992)
Best Wishes (1989)
The Original Cro-Mags Demos (1982/83)
Near Death Experience (1993)
In The Beginning (2020)
Revenge (2000)
2020 (2020)

Who was most popular on “Where The Wild Things Are” (according to Spotify)

I’ll be looking at the bands on Spotify and seeing who has the most monthly listeners. For Raw Deal I’ll be looking at Killing Time’s monthly listeners.

Gorilla Biscuits (88,615)
Sheer Terror (29,020)
Raw Deal (13,606)
Outburst (6,517)
Breakdown (4,720)
Maximum Penalty (1,916)
Uppercut (442)
Life’s Blood (379)
Norman Bates & The Showerheads (209)
The Arch Rivals NY (75)

Killing Time/Raw Deal

The “Raw Deal” demo is great. “Where The Wild Things Are” tracks are awesome. “The Brightside” is good. “Happy Hour” is ok. “Unavoidable”... I wish it was avoidable. “The Method” kinda stinks. “Three Steps Back” isn’t much better.